Callum Macdonald Memorial Award entries

National Library of Scotland announces shortlist for
sought-after poetry award

The National Library of Scotland has announced the shortlist for
the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award. The award is one of the most
sought-after prizes in poetry pamphlet publishing in Scotland. Six
entries have been short listed from a total of 51 entries, the
highest ever number of entries received for the award.

The winner and runners up will be announced at a ceremony to be
held at the Library on Thursday 19 May at 6pm, when all the entries
will be on display. The top prize is £500 and the presentation of
the Callum Macdonald Quaich, with two runner-up prizes of £250.

The shortlisted entries are:

Sheena Blackhall
'Wizard o the North: Poems in Scots for Halflins'
Published by Sheila Blackhall

Jim Carruth
'Bovine Pastoral'
Published by Ludovic Press

James Knox Whittet
'Seven poems for engraved fishermen'
Published by James Knox Whittet

Gill McConnell
'Garden Party'
Published by Woodburn Press

Hamish Whyte
'Passage/An Pasaiste' by James McGonigal
Published by Mariscat Press

Richard Medrington
'The Word of Dog'
Published by Puppet State Press

The award was created in 2001 to recognise publishing skill and
effort and to validate the practice of poetry publication in
pamphlet form. The award also aims to encourage the preservation of
printed material of this kind and all entries submitted are taken
into the collections of the National Library of Scotland. As a
result the Library currently holds 148 of the finest contemporary
Scottish poetry pamphlets in its collections of more than nine
million items.

Judge Tessa Ransford said: 'I'm delighted that the Award has
attracted the highest ever number of entries. All of the entries
were of a very high standard, indeed we could have shortlisted
another 10 or 12 poems such was the depth of quality. So much good
poetry is being written in Scotland that is so little known, yet it
is so accessible and this Award promotes awareness of pamphlet
poetry to a wider audience.'

The Callum Macdonald Memorial Award has once again been made
possible by the generous support of the Michael Marks Charitable
Trust.